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Talk:Helen Spitz
Helen and money management After seeing a few episodes about where Helen complains about their lack of money (sometimes in response to Sharon doing something silly that generates an extra bill), I started to wonder if she's incredibly inefficient at bookkeeping. For example, she tells Sharon that she doesn't have 100 dollars for a class vacation. Working Girl I don't know about American Psychotherapists, but in my country, that's the cost of one session (roughly). So, one patient visits Helen and she's got the money to pay for Sharon's trip. Or could it be that the bills involved in running their household are so expensive, that extra/luxury expenses are hard to provide for? --Buckmana (talk) 11:08, December 30, 2013 (UTC) :chuckle As a therapist myself, I often have to deal with my children thinking "we're made of cash", and like I'm an ATM. So it may be Helen does not want her kids to think everything can be had without putting in the effort of earning it. :Another factor is, like myself, Helen operates out of her home. Which usually means less patient traffic than operating from a traditional office space, and is often word-of-mouth advertised. Which also means to be competitive her fees are lower, not only passing on the savings in reduced overhead, but also to entice clientele to consider her home-based practice over the more "legitimate" office-based ones. --Love Robin (talk) 18:40, December 30, 2013 (UTC) ::I'm not an expert in these matters, but wouldn't running her personal business out of her home mean reduced costs in keeping her business operational? ::For example, she doesn't have to pay the various costs involved in maintaining an professional office, renting the rooms, paying for maintaince (electricity/water/upkeep) or the fees involved in paying the licensing taxes due to zoning regulations and a seperate internet account for the premises. ::In essence, she only has to pay for the upkeep of one building (the Spitz' home) as opposed to two. ::Buckmana (talk) 01:32, December 31, 2013 (UTC) :::Yes. However home-based professionals also lack the traffic of clients compared to office-based. When laying out large sums of money for only an hour at a time, the former is seen as "less professional" than the latter. So clientele is dependent upon word-of-mouth unless you manage to hook a nice retainer from a affluent client or corporation. For example, in the series Necessary Roughness, Dr Dani Santino operated the first 2 seasons completely out of her home, but was struggling until she landed the "New York Hawks" football franchise as her major client. All her incidental clients are gravy. :::Closer to home, *I* do not have such a reliable client on retainer, so my practice's traffic is a constant uphill struggle which if it was the only income source my family depended upon, we'd be in serious trouble. --Love Robin (talk) 08:04, December 31, 2013 (UTC) ::: I didn't really notice it at the time, but during Angels Among Us, Helen mentions taking on additional work to ease the strain on the public hospital (she says something about depression cases being high during holidays). And shortly after that, her patient is an older one, a pensioner maybe judging from appearance. Which would imply a lack of money if that patient relies on a government pension. That got me wondering, does Helen do pro bono work at certain times? If she was taking on cases that didn't compensate her finanicially, it might explain why she has limited money, if not every client is a paying client. --Buckmana (talk) 07:13, January 1, 2014 (UTC) :Good thoughts. Hospitals do not payout a premium rate for occasional references UNLESS there is some form of liability on their part on the line. --Love Robin (talk) 18:10, January 1, 2014 (UTC) Helen's last name Is her surname actually Spitz? I'm getting confused a lot with divorced couples in cartoons these days. I generally thought when a divorce occurred, the woman went back to her pre-marriage name if she changed it. However the kids from that marriage usually keep the surname for some reason. A similar case occurs with Charlene and Vanessa in Phineas and Ferb.--Buckmana (talk) 05:30, January 21, 2014 (UTC) :Many women maintain their married name especially when they have children. It's a matter of expediency. Children when young can get confused as to what *their* names are when it is different from Momma's. There is also less confusion when dealing with people and records. The first time your child throws a tantrum and well-meaning people and police walk up and your names do not match, you'll be wishing they did. Granted it can be resolved often in a timely fashion, but its a hassle those who maintain their married names don't have. ;P --Love Robin (talk) 09:10, January 21, 2014 (UTC) ::I didn't think children could be so easily confused. There was a family I lived with once who one of the parents had a daughter from a previous marriage and the children (6-7) were not bothered by the fact their half-sister had a different last name then they did. --Buckmana (talk) 11:19, January 21, 2014 (UTC) :::It's an emotional thing, with a hint of a throwback to tribal identity. Many women, and some of the more sensitive children, just need that emotional security. Also, so long as there is no true loathing of the Ex, sometimes it's just not worth the bureaucratic hassle. ::shrug:: When I divorced El Jerko I didn't change my last name until I remarried to my current Hubby. --Love Robin (talk) 13:02, January 21, 2014 (UTC)